2.28.2008

Uni Watch Interview

I have a new interview up in the webiverse today, thanks to Paul Lukas of the spectacular Uni Watch blog, a daily collection of commentary, links and images about the wide and eclectic selection of sports uniforms out there (old-time zinesters will remember Paul from his excellent Beer Frame as well). His approach really speaks to me...I realized it only very recently that while I'm a pretty avid sports fan, I'm not that interested in stats and numbers. When I talk to my friends about sports, I'm not talking about plus/minus or quarterback ratings, I'm talking about the Pirates alternate cap or the Chargers powder blue jerseys. I love to watch the games, and I love the way they look...I've always dug logos and uniforms, and to find a place so devoted to their study is a wonderful thing.

It was also great to do an interview with someone outside the comics milieu...as much as I love talking with all the various sites and podcasts out there, the questions, by necessity, tend to be along the same lines. To mix it up a bit was a blast!

And as a welcome to any regular Uni Watch readers making their first visit here, here's an alternate version of the Mets girl illo posted in the interview. It's the same drawing, except that here she's wearing the 2008 version of the Mets jersey...the differences are slight, but I'm sure the Uni Watchers will notice!

Not sure whether anyone's contacted you about this before, but the name of your erstwhile roller hockey team, "The Pointy Birds," is a reference to the Steve Martin movie, "The Man with Two Brains." (Found this site yesterday and did what I usually do: Went straight to the archives.)

It was the favorite poem of his character, Dr Michael Hfuhrrerr:

"The Pointy Birds are pointy, pointyAnoint my head: Anointy-nointy"

And for some reason, my hockey teams always wind up wearing orange, whether it's a jersey issued by the league, or a team captain who likes the Flyers -- and I HATE the Flyers. When I finally captained my own team, I went straight to the old L. A. Kings purple-and-gold.

Rob, thanks for the tip-off on the interview. Great stuff -- nice to hear you opine about sports and such. Though I'm not the sports fan you are, I remember trying to draw that Steeler's logo as a kid and choosing the Dolphins as my favorite team as a kid because I liked their logo (that dolphin with the helmet!)

And thanks for the heads up on Paul Lukas' blog. I still have my old issues of Beer Frame and the paperback collection that came out in the 90s. Definitely one of the best-written, most fun zines I've ever read.

Old-Timey Hockey Tales

Celebrate the Golden Age of the coolest sport on earth. Features stories about Gordie Howe, Michel Briere, Lester Patrick and the Rocket Richard Riot. By Rob Ullman and Jeffrey Brown. 32 color and black and white pages, $6. Click the photo to order!

CONVENTIONS and APPEARANCES

Bio

ROBERT ULLMAN pays the bills as a freelance illustrator for a plethora of publications and clients, such as THE HOCKEY NEWS, PENTHOUSE, THE STRANGER, LAS VEGAS WEEKLY, HarperCollins, The U.S. Army and The American Red Cross. He creates comics in his spare time (of which there never seems to be enough), including ATOM-BOMB BIKINI, GRAND GESTURES, and OLD-TIMEY HOCKEY TALES.
rob (at) robullman (dot) com